The ink fountain in a printing press has a chamber, defined by the fountain roll and the fountain blade, in which the ink used in the printing operation is contained. The ink is fed from the fountain onto the surface of the fountain roll by rotating the roll. Another roll is used to take up the ink from the surface of the fountain roll and transfer it to a printing plate. Various adjustments are provided for adjusting the lip of the fountain blade against the surface of the fountain roll. When it is necessary to clean the fountain as when changing color or type of ink, the blade and fountain roll must be thoroughly scraped and cleaned. The ink fountains on many present presses can be swung down for cleaning and back into position without disturbing the adjustment of the fountain blade to the fountain roll.
As it is often difficult to clean the ink fountain while attached to the press, it would be desirable if the ink fountain could be detached from the press. Because the proper adjustment of the fountain blade to the fountain roll is time consuming, much of the advantage of having a detachable fountain would be lost if the blade had to be readjusted upon its reattachment to the press.
The principal object of this invention is to provide an ink fountain construction wherein the ink fountain can be removed from the press for cleaning and reattached in the same alignment between the fountain roll and blade.
It is a further object to provide a swing-down feature in the detachable ink fountain.